Vegas: Resistance
by the morrighan
Summary: Detective John Sheppard must save the world from the Wraith...but the consequences could be too costly.  Note:  This is the last Vegas story.
1. Chapter 1

Vegas: Resistance

"_Once more into the breach, dear friends, once more;"_

**3 years after invasion.**

Colonel John Sheppard, formerly Detective John Sheppard stood hunched over the table. His hands were splayed upon its smooth surface as he studied a series of maps spread out across the grainy length. He was weary. His tattered green camo gear was stained and torn but he didn't care as he stared along the map. "You're sure?" he asked, his voice gruff. He licked his lips, wishing he had a beer or even water. It had been a long trek from Nellis AFB to the facility.

Rodney McKay nodded, pointing along the map. It wasn't a map of Nevada or even of the United States, or what was left of it. The map was of the stars, specifically the constellations and the global view of the planet. "I'm sure. We've intercepted several communications and a Hive ship is due to pass over us in exactly a week. It will be here." He stabbed the map with a forefinger. "If it follows the usual trajectory and culling path it will pass over Vegas and head south towards the Arizona/Utah border. This may be our only chance, John. I don't have to tell you that."

"No, you don't," John agreed wearily.

"Daddy! Daddy, daddy, daddy!" a little voice broke the somber mood. John turned to see a little boy with dark hair and a grin clumsily racing towards him. "Daddy!"

John smiled, all fatigue forgotten. He squatted, catching the little boy before he fell. "Hey, buddy!" He kissed the child then stood, swinging the little boy up into the air. The little boy squealed in delight, giggling as John swung him over his head and round. He pretended to almost drop the boy. John laughed as his son's expression. He held the boy at his shoulder. "Give daddy a kiss, junior."

"Daddy!" The little boy kissed his father then grinned at Rodney. "Daddy home!"

"Yes, kiddo, so I hear," Rodney agreed with a smile. The little boy's joy was infectious.

"Where's mommy?" John asked, gaze roving over the little boy. The child was a mirror likeness to his father, down to the messy hair and green eyes. His black t-shirt and blue jeans were like miniature versions of John's own clothing when he wasn't on duty, which wasn't often these days. A new offensive was being planned and John was involved down to the tiniest detail.

"Mommy play wit Unca Carshon."

"What? She better not be playing with Carson!" John stated. He quirked a brow as Rodney laughed.

"Face it, John, that Scottish accent gets them all of the time," Rodney jested.

"Ha ha. Let's go, buddy." John eyed his friend. "We can discuss this later, all right? Any word from Lorne?"

"Not yet. He should be on his way back from the SGC by now. It takes longer these days to avoid detection, you know."

"I know. Not only do we have to save the world, we have to save it surreptitiously."

"Daddy, daddy, I wanna ice seem!"

"You want ice cream? You must get that from your mother. Let's go, buddy."

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Moira Sheppard sat back from the microscope. A look of shock crossed her face. She tried to speak but no words came, not right away anyway as the full implications of what she had just seen hit her. She turned on the stool to see Carson watching her, his expression grim but full of resolve. "I…I…we can't."

Carson shrugged. "We have no choice, love."

"But, but you are talking total species annihilation."

"Yes, that is the objective, isn't it?"

"Yes, but…this…this…" She turned back to the microscope again but it held no answers. No moral qualms upset it. "You've created the perfect bioweapon."

"We have," Carson corrected. "We attack the one unique feature the Wraith possess that we do not."

"The enzyme," she replied. "And when that is destroyed—"

"The Wraith will be destroyed. First from starvation and then from disease. A virus to attack from within. The problem is how to get the toxin to them."

"The problem is should we do this at all?" Moira stated, moving to her feet. "Defending the planet is one thing, but this! This is total genocide, Carson, of an entire species! And God knows what kind of affects it will have on every other species not to mention the planet and—"

"Are you seriously arguing for not killing them?" Carson asked, blue eyes widening in surprise. "After what they did to you, Moira, what they did to your son! You both were almost killed! You would offer them leniency after they have invaded and decimated half of this bloody planet! They feed on us!"

"I know! And I hate them more than anyone, except perhaps for John, but that isn't the issue, Carson! The issue is do we have the right to annihilate every single one of them and can we accept the consequences when we don't even know what they could encompass!"

"Yes."

Both turned at the interruption. John was standing in the doorway, holding his son. He had been listening to the argument, letting his gaze wander over the form of his wife but the white lab coat blocked most of her curves. Her rising anger was making his pants tight however, as it always seemed to do, but he ignored the sexual attraction as he listened to their every word.

"John!" they said at the same time, exchanged a glance.

"Mommy! Mommy, mommy daddy say I get ice seem too!" Johnny Sheppard piped in with a smile. He was oblivious to the argument, only knowing that his parents were both here with him and that made it a happy day.

John walked over to them, but his gaze was glued to his wife. Her long brown hair was tied back in a messy ponytail. Her brown eyes flashed concern and relief and ire. "You have it. A toxin?"

"Yes," Carson answered.

"No! Not yet, anyway," Moira refuted, her relief at seeing her husband returned and unharmed tempered by the argument. And by the child in his arms.

"Which is it?" John asked mildly.

"Yes," Carson repeated.

"No! We can't be sure it will—"

"All that we need is a delivery system, and a way to make it airborne. I am working on that," Carson assured as John's gaze flitted to him, then back to Moira. "Give me a few weeks and I can devise a—"

"You have a few days or less, doc," John informed. "I want that thing viable in an airborne form for mass distribution."

"No!" Moira glared, hands on hips. "It's not ready yet, John! We have to consider all of the implications not to mention any resulting environmental reactions because we are in new territory here! We just don't know what will happen and since the Wraith are half human there could be implications that we haven't even imagined yet!"

John was silent, eying her. He stepped closer, adjusting the little boy in his arms who was quietly watching, content.

"John! Damn it, say something!" Moira snapped, but she was losing herself in the depths of his green eyes and she knew very well the effect her anger had on him. Particularly on the lower parts of his anatomy as she glanced down at his pants, then to his eyes again.

John just smiled.


	2. Chapter 2

Vegas: Resistance2

"_Or close the wall up with our English dead!"_

**10 years after invasion.**

Moira Sheppard sighs. She shoves strands of her hair out of her face and stares at the latest computer models, but they are all telling her the same thing. She shakes her head, taps on the keyboard and watches the inexorable advance of the continents as they merge once more, leaving an oddly circular sea in the middle.

The Earth is changing, and there is nothing to be done about it.

"That bad?" Rodney asks, joining her at the table. He eyes the model on the computer screen. It resembles a misshapen bagel swimming on a blue ocean. He suddenly remembers that he is quite hungry and glances round for any sign of food.

"Worse. Maybe not in our lifetime, but in our children's, yes. The rate of subduction has tripled and now that the sea levels have risen even more…" Moira sighs. "We were already in the middle of the sixth extinction before all of this happened. Before the Wraith invaded. But these processes should be taking millions of years! It shouldn't be happening this fast!"

"Yet it is. Even from space you can see the continental shifting. It looks like Pangaea, that supercontinent from over 250 million years ago is going to form again."

"Novopangaea, or Ultima Pangaea they are calling it," Moira agrees. "The Wilson Cycle never predicted anything like this."

"No one ever predicted the crash of an enormous Hive ship into our planet, or the massive disruption of the magnetic fields, and the opening of a time/space rift." Rodney sighs and shakes his head, his disillusion mirroring Moira's.

"Why do I always walk in on science talk?" John quips, entering the lab. He is holding the hand of his eldest son who dutifully follows, staring round with curiosity. In his other arm is perched the baby Emily, who is prattling and gurgling happily. On his heels follows his younger son Seamus, calling after his father and finding it difficult to keep up with the man's long strides.

"Because you are in a science lab, detective," Moira scolds, but she smiles seeing her children and her husband. "Back already?"

"Mommy, mommy!" Seamus runs to her, all smiles.

"Yes. I'm dropping off the squad here so I can get some work done. And?" John raises a brow, glancing at the computer screens.

"You don't wanna know. Hey, sport," Rodney smiles as Johnny moves to him.

"Uncle Rod, is it true that the moon is getting closer to us?"

"Yes, it is, but that's a natural occurrence," Rodney assures. He exchanges a look with Moira and takes the little boy's hand. "In fact I can show you exactly how the moon orbits our planet and how now that the Earth's axis is tilted the moon appears to be closer to us this time of year." He leads the little boy to another monitor across the room.

"I wanna see!" Seamus grins and rushes after them.

John smiles and shakes his head. He sets Emily into Moira's lap, takes the seat vacated by Rodney. "There is no way that both of my sons are going to be scientists! I'm telling you now, Moy, that ain't gonna happen."

Moira smiles. "We'll just see about that, sweetie. How was the flyover?"

"The usual." John shrugs. "Yellowstone is secure. The caldera is quiet, or so they tell me. The coastlines are creeping closer and closer, but we expected that. Mount Saint Helena's due to erupt again but what else is new these days?"

"Yes." Moira cuddled the baby as the little girl prattled sleepily, snuggling against her mother. "There hasn't been an earthquake alert today, so I think it is safe for us to go home for a while."

"Good. Let me wrap up things here and then we can go." John stands. He steps close to Moira and kisses her. A long, almost lazy motion of his mouth on hers. "You can tell me later all about the plate tectonics and the movement of the subduction zone and blah blah blah, all right?"

"I will, sweetie, don't worry." She smiles at the pained expression on his handsome face. But she becomes somber. "John…the, the prisoners…"

"That's outta my hands, sweetheart. But there's no way in hell they will be moved here." He kisses her again. "Back in thirty or so."

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The drive across the desert is torturous, or would be if John didn't have the air conditioning in his red car cranked up to the highest setting. The children are all strapped in the back seat, playing and squabbling and oblivious to the changes around them. The red car speeds along the open road, heading for the city of Vegas.

Moira stares bleakly out of the window. The desert hasn't changed much but the temperatures are more extreme. Only the cacti are tough enough to survive in the newly harsh environment. Most of the scrub has died away to tumbleweeds that blow across the road and cause the children to exclaim with delight and wonder. A lone coyote runs along the side of the road, tongue lolling out of its mouth and Moira feels a pang of sympathy for the animal, but predators are clever and it will adapt much as the human race has to their evolving planet.

John stares ahead of him, driving swiftly but carefully, mindful of the precious cargo in the back of the car. He adjusts his shades against the glare of the sun. Even though it is mid-afternoon the sun is a blinding gold ball in the pale, pale sky. He can feel the sweat trickling down his neck and back although the air conditioning is working in the car. He glances at Moira. Her long hair is tied back into a ponytail and her beige shirt is sticking to her curves. A smile forms on his lips, and he opens his mouth to make a salacious comment when she speaks first.

"John, there's talk of moving the facility again. To higher ground since the quake zone is becoming more active. I don't want to move again."

John shrugs. "If we have to move we move, Moy. Simple as that."

"No, it's not, John. We finally have a home, of sorts, and the children have a regular routine now. I won't disrupt any of that unless we absolutely have to disrupt it."

"Whatever," he says, finding it easier to agree at this point then to argue. Although he does enjoy arguing with her.

Moira glances at him, her brown eyes narrowing. "Stop that."

"Stop what?"

"Stop that. I'm not going to get into it now just you can get a hard-on," she snaps, but a smile tugs her lips and she tries not to laugh.

He grins. "Why the hell not, baby? I sure as hell want to get into—"

"Daddy! Daddy, what that?" Seamus exclaims, pointing out the window.

John looks over to see a herd of bison thundering along the desert sands. "Wow! Why don't you handle this one, Moy? Just go easy on the Latin."

"Seamus, those are bison. They are herbivores, even-toed ungulates of the sub-family Bovinae, the American bison or buffalo, _bison bison. _They are following their new migratory patterns and the herd will travel several miles in search of food and water. Interestingly enough their prehistoric ancestors were less robustly built and had smaller horns. The _Bison menneri_ looked more like cattle but the _Bison priscus_ was similar to our modern species and they—"

"Enough, doctor!" John protests, and the children laugh. "Geez! He didn't ask for a lecture, just what they were!" he complains, but smirks as she glares at him and hits his arm. "Hey!"

"Enough, detective! Keep driving!" She turns to the children. "There were once millions of bison roaming all over North America, but they were almost hunted to extinction. Now they are starting to thrive again since their territory has been expanded since the formation of the Great Crater and they are no longer overhunted. Can anyone tell me what can prey on them?"

"Wolves!" shouts Johnny.

"Wolves!" echoes Seamus with a grin. "Daddy, daddy, right?"

"Yeah, I guess, son," John says, but he laughs and fondly sighs as Moira launches into an explanation of wolves for the children.

Despite the changes to the planet and to their lives some things have remained the same.


	3. Chapter 3

Vegas: Resistance3

"_In peace there's nothing so becomes a man…"_

John sat in the cafeteria, eating some ice cream. Carefully he would scoop up the vanilla swirls of the melting dessert and guide the spoon to his mouth over the head of his son. Johnny was perched on her father's lap, enjoying his own bowl of ice cream. The child's face was full of the treat but some of it did manage to get into the child's eager mouth. Both were intent on their task and ignored the other people coming and going around them. They ignored the smiles and the stares.

Carson Beckett shook his head, took the seat opposite the two Sheppards. "I see that you found our stash of vanilla."

"Yes," John said, setting his spoon aside. He grabbed a napkin and wiped his son's mouth. The little boy giggled then protested as John pushed the nearly empty bowl out of reach. "But not the chocolate sauce. I think Rodney has hidden that for his own nefarious purposes."

Carson chuckled. "I think you may be right, John. Where is Moira?"

John smiled. "Asleep. I sorta wore her out." He pictured how he had left his wife, sprawled naked in their bed after repeated, intense sex.

"Daddy and mommy make happy," Johnny informed with a grin.

"I bet they did, laddie. Actually I wanted a word with you about the bio-toxin and the—"

"Are her concerns valid?" John asked, suddenly serious. He helped his son sip some water before the little boy knocked over the glass.

"Yes, of course, but I think they are irrelevant in light of what we are trying to do here," Carson answered. He frowned. "Moira worries too much."

"Moira takes everything into consideration, which is her job. I need to talk to her later but I still need that toxin ready ASAP."

"What ASAP, daddy?" Johnny asked, turning to view his father.

John met his son's gaze. "As soon as possible."

"ASAP. ASAP, ASAP, ASAP," Johnny repeated, learning the code.

"Yes, son, you got it." John looked at the doctor. "If there are any genetic implications I need to know now before we activate this thing. Got it?"

"Got it, John. We'll run a test first on the prisoners."

"Damn right we will," John agreed. A grim expression formed on his handsome face.

"I've just had word," Rodney said, joining them. "Lorne's secured the last of the packages from the SGC and will be here shortly. We're going to have to use kiddo here to up the mojo on the ships before I can create the interfaces and attach the payload. We only have enough for two."

"Two ships? Will that be enough?"

"It will have to be," John answered the doctor's concern. He sighed. Set his son next to him and ruffled the boy's dark hair.

"Daddy, no!" Johnny protested, frowning.

"Sorry, buddy," John said with a smile. He looked at the two men. "I need to know the exact trajectory of any fallout. I want this planned down to the second, all right? This is our only shot and if it doesn't work…" He left the rest unsaid. The threat of the Wraith invasion that would continue indefinitely if something drastic wasn't done loomed large.

Johnny climbed back into his father's lap. "ASAP, daddy! ASAP, ASAP!"

"Yeah, you heard my little cop in training. ASAP," John agreed.

"What about pilots? Who is going to pilot the ships?" Rodney asked. His gaze was on John but he knew the answer as John avoided eye contact.

John was eying his son. "Don't worry about that. Just get them up and running."

"John…you can't possibly mean to—" Carson began, exchanging a look with Rodney. "Good God, man, you can't be thinking of flying one of those ships! You have a wife and son now!"

"I said I would take care of it! Any luck with the rift?" John asked, changing the subject.

"I'm getting closer." Rodney sighed. "The equations keep changing and if I open to the wrong reality I might bring something worse to ours. I'll get it, just give me more time! It's hard enough to get the required power sources and then the equations and then the magnetic field alignments let alone do all of this without the Wraith detecting any of the activity but I can get it done!"

"We've run out of time, Rodney, and you know that," John argued. He touched his son's back, gently moved the little boy off his lap again. "Hey, sport, why don't you go get mommy for me, will ya? I bet she wants some ice cream too."

"Okay, daddy! I get mommy ASAP!"

"Yeah, sport, ASAP. Go!" he bellowed.

The little boy giggled and scampered out of the cafeteria. John smiled, but his smile faded as soon as his son was lost to sight. He eyed the two men. "We've had this discussion and we're not having it again, all right? This is our only chance to take down one if not two of those fucking Hive ships and we can't make any mistakes. None."

Rodney shook his head. "And I'm telling you, John, I can get the rift open to the right reality and get us the help we desperately need, but I need just a little more time!"

"We don't have the time, Rodney!" John stood suddenly. "And not a word to Moira about this! I need to go check the ground assault and see if Lorne brought enough naquadah to enhance the nukes. Not a word," he added in warning.

The two men exchanged a worried glance.

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"Mommy! Mommy!" Johnny had reached the door to his home but could not open it. He knocked on it. "Mommy! Mommy!"

The door opened and Moira smiled, knelt to capture the little boy in a hug. "Johnny! Where have you been?"

The little boy giggled. "Daddy and I have ice seem!"

"Oh, you did, did you?" she asked, as if angered. She smiled, kissed the little boy and stood. She took his hand, led him out of the room and down the hall. "Is that all you had?"

"Yes, mommy! Daddy said you want ice seem ASAP too? I want ice seem ASAP."

Moira laughed. "I bet you do, darling. But you really should have a sandwich too. Is daddy there now?"

"Yes, mommy with Unca Rod and Unca Carshon. They all swerious, mommy about daddy fly ship to Hive and ice sceem I wanna fly ship too mommy can I can I can I?" the little boy babbled.

Moira stopped. She looked at her smiling son. "What?" She knelt to be eye level with the boy. "What did daddy say? That he would fly a ship to the Hive?"

"I wanna ice seem, mommy, ASAP."

"This is important, Johnny. Did daddy say he was going to fly a ship to the Hive?"

Johnny considered, brows furrowing just like his father. He nodded. "Yes, mommy. Daddy say. Mommy, did daddy do bad?" The little boy stared, wondering if his father was in trouble.

Moira felt her heart hammer. She touched her abdomen as her stomach twisted. As more immediate concerns made her feel a horrible dread. Then an anger as John had apparently made the decision without a word to her about it. She stood. She took the little boy's hand again. "No. We won't let daddy do a bad," she said softly.

There was no way in hell that Moira was going to let John carry out this mission.


	4. Chapter 4

Vegas: Resistance4

"_As modest stillness and humility:"_

The three children are settled at last, after running around the back yard and playing, after exploring their rooms and creating a mess of the unpacking of their clothes and toys. After dinner they have cuddled with their parents on the couch, but one by one they drop off to sleep, and John dutifully carries each child to their respective beds and tucks them in under the blankets. The temperatures dip quite low at night and John makes sure the heat is running through the house and that the windows are tightly shut and all is well.

John walks through the house, making certain all is secure, although there is no immediate threat. The Wraith have been neutralized, and what pockets of their species that still exist are being systematically hunted down and slaughtered. John knows that not all of them will be found, but he is confident that the planet is no longer in any danger. He is confident that life can continue in this new world, with half of its former population and the reforming of the continents.

He pauses on the threshold to the family room. Moira is sitting on the couch, ever present laptop on her knees as she works now that the children are in bed. Her gaze is pensive, solemn as she types and reads, changes windows, clicks and chews on her lower lip. She is engrossed in her work and doesn't feel her husband's gaze on her.

Moira softly sighs. Every prognostication is the same. The world is changing inexorably.

John suddenly plops down beside her, startling her. He snatches the laptop and sets it on the table in front of them. "That bad?" he asks.

Moira meets his gaze, shrugs. "There's no good news, I'm afraid. Are they all asleep?"

"Yeah, well, two outta three." He smiles. "Seamus is pretending so we can expect him to creep out here in a few. Silly boy."

"Gee, I wonder where he gets that from?" Moira teases. She snuggles into John as his arm slides around her and draws her close.

"I have no idea," John deadpans, but he smiles. He strokes her arm, softly kisses her brow. "So?"

"So?" she echoes. She is content in his arms, in the house. She enjoys the quiet and just being with him, away from everyone else. She catches his hand in hers, gently strokes his forearm, her nails gently scraping the dark hair.

"They will be offering to decommission me soon, I think. I could go back to being a detective."

"You never left doing that, John, not really." She closes her eyes, secure in his warmth, his solidity. "Is that what you want?"

"Hell if I know, Moy." He frowns, staring at nothing. "You think we should leave Vegas?"

"No."

"No? Okay. I'm just saying if you wanted to leave we could now."

"There's no need, John. Not yet, anyway. Things will stabilize for a few years, but it won't last."

"And then?" He debates if he should tell her the other job offer he has had. It is a turning point and he knows it. It is an opportunity, an adventure, but he worries about the huge disruption it would cause in all of their lives. Hearing a little giggle he smiles. He turns his head to see his younger son standing near the couch, all smiles. "Hey, sport! Whatcha doin', Seamus?"

"Hi daddy! I doin' nuttin!"

Moira opens her eyes, sighs. "I wish you wouldn't teach him to talk like that," she complains.

"Why not? It's our code. Come on, buddy."

Seamus runs to them and climbs onto the couch. He settles comfortably between his parents, holding onto his plush blue elephant. "Daddy, daddy, I wanna see!"

"You wanna see what, buddy? You should be asleep."

"I wanna see the lights in sky!"

"Oh. Yeah. Okay. Moira?"

"Fine, but after that, young man, you need to go to bed." She kisses the little boy, reluctantly moves free of John's arm. "I will go check on the other two. Don't keep him up too late, John."

"We'll just watch the lights and head to bed. Wait up for me, Moy." He smiles, his meaning obvious as his gaze peruses her as she stands. He raises his brows in case she doesn't get the message.

Moira smiles. "Then don't be too late, detective, or you won't be able to serve that warrant." She kisses him, kisses the little boy again. "Not too late now, gentlemen."

John stands, lifting his son to his arms. He carries the child outside. He stands on the front porch then walks down the sidewalk. It is a still, quiet night. There are only a few others living in the neighborhood, and the streetlights are dimmed to an amber glow. A soft breeze ruffles John's hair and ruffles the little boy's hair but there is a chill in it as the temperature begins to drop.

The sky is full-on dark now. The lights from Vegas a mere glimmer. They are not as bright or as brazen as they once were, and never would be again. Stars glitter in the blackness, creating a canopy of sparkle that curves with the horizon.

"Daddy, daddy, when?" Seamus asks, staring up at the sky. He feels cold in his blue and red pajamas but his father is warm and he holds onto his favorite toy, content.

"In a few, sport. You gotta wait for it. See? Look!"

An aurora flashes. It is a pale wash of light against the dark. A trembling wave that is gone mere seconds after its appearance. But it is quickly followed by more. Waves of red and green light that dance and spiral in the sky. Auroras are a common occurrence now, even this far south from the Pole, and while the scientists can explain all about them and the altered Van Allen belt and the magnetic field of the Earth being changed Seamus only knows that the lights are pretty and he likes to look at them dancing in the sky.

John watches the auroras with his son. Both are silent, as the breeze whistles around them and the lights come and go. Seamus holds onto his father with one little hand, making sounds as he smiles. John holds him close, gaze darting from the lights to scan the dark neighborhood. There is no movement. There are no sounds. All is secure and safe.

It is just another quiet night on planet Earth.

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Rodney runs a hand through his thinning hair. He stands at the computer console, staring at the blank screen. He has turned it off at last but still stands there, as if at a loss as to what to do. He is relieved that communications have been restored, that most of the network is up and running. Satellites are working again. The internet is alive and functioning. Even television programs are running again.

There are just less people now to watch them.

He lifts a clipboard and peruses the long list of requisitions and demands he must approve or reject. Even after the defeat of the Wraith he must be on alert for any new threats to the planet. But he thrives under duress and excels at his job, even under pressure.

"Rodney?"

He turns and smiles as Katie McKay enters the room. The botanist makes her way to her husband, navigating past chairs and tables. It is an awkward journey as she is heavily pregnant and expecting their first child any day now. "Katie. I'm just about done here."

"Good. I don't want to have the baby here. As much as I trust Carson I would prefer to have the baby in a proper hospital."

"If you insist," Rodney jokes, and sets down the clipboard. "We can go to the city tonight and stay for a few days. John's already taken his brood home for a bit."

"In that case we can take a few days too, Rodney. Let someone else save the planet, okay? I'm sure that Weir will handle everything in your absence."

"Yes, I'm sure she will," he agrees, but he shrugs. "Or Lorne. It's just…"

Katie takes his arm, shaking her head. "I know…you have to be in charge, don't you? Ever since Woolsey…well…you feel responsible. You shouldn't, Rodney. Now let's go home, all right? I'm sure the universe can get by for a few days without you."

"Well, if you're sure…" He lets her lead him out of the office, but he glances back at the computers and equipment, as if loath to leave them. As if his absence will somehow precipitate another disaster, when in fact he has caused a few by opening the rift.

It's not every man who can say he has altered his own planet's evolution.


	5. Chapter 5

Vegas: Resistance5

"_But when the blast of war blows in our ears,"_

John folded his arms across his chest. He nodded once and the engineers carefully carry the crates into the secret underground hangar bay. The crates are heavy, filled with naquadah bombs that will enhance the nukes already being attached to the Wraith Darts that will be used to infiltrate the enemy Hive ships and destroy them. John looked at Evan as he watched the progress, a grim expression on his face. "Is that it?"

"Yes. That's the last of it. If this doesn't work…" Evan Lorne left the rest unsaid. Both men knew the gravity of the situation. The dire consequences if this plan failed. Evan met John's gaze. "Colonel, I'd like to volunteer to fly one of the ships."

John smiled briefly. "I knew that you would, major. I can't think of a better wingman than you."

"Wingman? Then you…"

"No!" Rodney joined them, scowling. "Give me a day, John! Just one fucking day to open the rift and get the help we need!"

"We don't have a day, Rodney, and you damn well know it! The ship will be in position and we can't risk missing it, not for anything. Then we can take out the other one. I've read every assessment of the collateral damage and it has to be now. If we wait the fallout could hit the remaining population centers or worse it could hit the Yellowstone Caldera and blow us all to hell with a super volcano, so no, this is it."

"John, I can fly one of the ships. Surely there's someone else besides you," Evan reasoned. He wondered how callous the other man could be considering he has a wife and son now.

"There's not. You'll be handling the bio-toxin. I will follow with the bombs, and for that we need a highly skilled pilot who can maneuver through those damn Hives and deliver the payload exactly where it needs to go. And frankly, you're not that skilled. I am."

"No!" The men all turn as Moira rushed to them. Anxiety and anger colored her face as she neared, but her gaze is only on John. "You can't do this, John! You can't! I won't let you!"

"How…junior," John realized, looking past her but the little boy is nowhere in sight. "I don't have a choice, Moira."

"Of course you do! And you can't choose this! Please, John!" she said, touching his arm as the other two men stepped away quietly, loath to intrude yet watching all the same. Tears sparkled in Moira's eyes as she could see the resolve in her husband. The burden of responsibility was like a shadow on him. "John!"

"I'm sorry, Moy, but there's no one else." His voice had a gentle tone but his green eyes were solemn. It wasn't an easy decision to make but once made nothing will sway him. He tried to steel himself against his wife and her inevitable emotional reaction.

"You can't do this, John! You don't understand!" She touched her abdomen with her other hand. "I'm, I'm pregnant." Her voice softened at the admission and she blushed, aware of the audience near them.

John stared, suspecting a feint but realized she was sincere. He smiled. Warmth filled his beautiful eyes and he drew Moira to him. He engaged her in a soft, slow kiss. "My Moira." He freed her to tenderly touch her rosy cheek, to brush away a stray tear that has escaped from her eyes.

"John…so you can't go."

"On the contrary, sweetheart, I have to go now more than ever."

"What?" she exclaimed, breaking free of his embrace, of the moment.

"We already have one son living under the shadow of the Wraith. I won't have another child of mine living like that."

Moira stared, stunned. "John…" she stammered. She didn't know what to say.

His gaze darted to the two staring men. "Lorne, make certain those payloads are attached properly. McKay, let me know when you need junior's mojo to make the naquadah work with the Ancient interfaces. I've got to go see Carson about the bio-toxin." He looked at Moira again, and he smiled warmly. "Moira." Before she can say a word he turned and disappeared up the hallway.

"Moira? Moira's pregnant again? How can she be pregnant again?" Rodney wondered.

Evan rolled his eyes. "Really, McKay? Do I need to explain that to you again?"

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John stared at the monitor. The screen displayed a cell in a different facility miles from where John stood. He hit a button, enabling communications. "Administer the toxin."

Carson joined him. He eyed the monitor. "I really should be there, John, to fully witness the effects and to examine the corpses afterwards."

"No, doc. We had this discussion. I need you here in case you have to refine the toxin before we deploy it." Of course there was another reason now. John smiled for a moment, thinking of Moira. Newly pregnant with their second child. He thought back, trying to guess the exact moment of conception, but doused his erotic memories as he stared at the screen.

"Do you not want Moira to witness this as well? Despite her objections she was instrumental in helping me decode the DNA and the—"

"No. She doesn't need to see this."

"I'll need to secure a few for autopsy," Carson decided.

"Fine. But not here. There."

"And I can make certain there are no lingering environmental effects," Carson continued, as if he felt the need to talk while they watched the gruesome proceedings. "Despite Moira's misgivings I am certain this toxin cannot hurt any humans or animals or plant life or—"

"Okay, got it, doc. Let's just see what happens first, all right?"

A yellowish gas was pumped into the cell. It was enclosed by glass on all sides. Still the technicians wore complete hazmat suits, just in case. The prisoners were Wraith. Five in all, captured instead of being killed solely for this kind of experimentation. They had survived all kinds of toxins and study, all kinds of injuries and even amputation. It was as if they couldn't be killed, and John was beginning to despair when at last Carson had assured him he had found the right chemical combination that would kill them.

And keep them that way.

"Zoom in," John ordered.

The picture became closer, clearer. The effects were almost immediate. The airborne virus was causing the Wraith to cough, to choke. They snarled and moved around the cell, as if seeking a way out, as if seeking to get away from the toxic cloud but there was nowhere to go. There was no escape.

One by one they gagged and fell to their knees.

One by one their tongues bulged out and they tore at their throats in an attempt to breathe.

One by one they went into terrible convulsions and fluids began to leak out of their eyes, their ears, their mouths.

One by one they died.

John and Carson were silent. Watching the death they had bestowed upon the enemy. Neither felt remorse for this was war, and war was ugly. War was brutal. In the survival of the species only one could win, and both men were determined that the winner would be the human race. There was no room for moral objections or conscientious qualms.

There was only war. A war that needed to be fought and needed to be won.

By any means.


	6. Chapter 6

Vegas: Resistance6

"_Then imitate the action of the tiger;"_

John crouches in the scrub. He motions with his hand and the marines at his back do the same. The sun is hot, brutal as it sears his back and neck but he ignores it. His gaze is locked on the trio walking weakly along the hills. They are almost lost in the shadows but John uses his binoculars and zooms in on them.

He zooms in on the Wraith.

More stragglers that have come out of hiding at last, from God knows where in the desert. They could have been shot on sight, killed from the safety of a helicopter but instead the government wants these alive. They are running out of live specimens and there are still so many tests to be run, still so many questions to be answered.

John rankles under the orders but he has no choice. He is still a colonel in the USAF and must obey, no matter how much he would prefer just killing the damn things. He scowls, rubs his scruffy jaw. "On my mark. Set to stun," he quietly orders into his earpiece. Now that they are using the Wraith's own weapons they are easier to catch and to subdue.

But the aliens are still dangerous and unpredictable.

"Targets acquired. Mark."

The men rise as one and charge forward, shouting to confuse the Wraith who jump and scatter, then snarl and rush to attack. Lasers fill the air, the blue bolts repeatedly hitting the alien creatures. One goes down. Two are still attacking and they move with blinding speed. John realizes they must have recently fed and subsequently will be more difficult to put down.

A man screams as he is attacked, but more energy bolts finally subdue the Wraith. It crashes to the hot desert sands, writhing in pain before it loses consciousness.

The third one veers and runs to escape. It winds through the scrub and eludes the lasers chasing after it.

"Shit." John sighs. "Bag and tag 'em, get 'em delivered! Delta, with me!" He gestures and the crack squad divide. Men move to each side of him to flank as John races after the lone Wraith. He swings the Wraith stunner, wishing it was a P90 instead.

A man is thrown sideways, neck broken. The laser fire is having little effect and John swears, decides and tosses the Wraith stunner aside. He pulls his trusty 9mm and swerves, reaching the Wraith as it whirls and rushes him to attack. John fires his weapon point blank, unloading an entire clip into the Wraith with savage intensity. The Wraith is jolted by each bullet as it advances, advances, reaching John. Its long nails just brush his chest before it suddenly falls to the ground, riddled with bullets. A few lasers ping off it as the men join him but the Wraith is dead. Just to be sure John reloads and empties another clip into its head and heart.

"Uh, sir. Sir? Weren't our orders to take them alive?" a nervous marine asks.

"Yeah? Well, I've rescinded them, at least on this one. Give me your knife, kid. I want to be sure and finish the job." John holds out his hand expectantly.

"Sir? Colonel Sheppard, our, our orders were to, to take them alive."

John's gaze is like ice. He is sick of following orders. He is sick of being in charge of newbies who have no idea how close they all came to losing the planet. He is tired of all the politics and backstabbing that go along with it in this brave new world. "And my orders are to give me your goddamn knife."

The nervous young man hands over his knife, and watches in shock as John kneels and begins to sever the head from the body.

It's just another day defending the planet from hostile aliens.

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Moira shakes her head, shoves the microscope aside. "I told you. I told you but you wouldn't listen!" she flares, turns to see Carson staring into another microscope.

Carson sighs and meets her gaze. Resigned. "Aye, you did, love. But it was the only way to defeat the Wraith. The only way." He looks back at the cells on the slide. Enlarged they appear like hexagonal shapes swimming in reddish fluid. Blood cells being attacked, being altered by an enemy within that so far has been able to resist the cell's natural defenses.

"I told you," she repeats, but her tone is one of weary acceptance. "The enzyme is like a virus in that it can mutate and evolve over time, much like your bio-toxin. Nature will find a way to survive, even in the harshest of elements. The enzyme evolved to find a new host, and now that it has entered the food chain God knows what will happen years if not decades from now."

"There was no other way," Carson argues. "So far the enzyme has proven to be harmless. The bio-toxin remnants are inert, have been for years. The area of contagion has been sealed and sterilized. We are working now on a way to combat whatever comes our way."

"And what if it mutates again? What if it finds a way to defeat our immune systems? I don't care what you say, Carson, you can't justify what you did. What we did." She feels tears but blinks them aside. "And the Wraith will evolve too, those that are left. John is out there now risking his life again and he doesn't even know exactly what he's up against!"

"I'm sure he does, love. Look, Moira, we did terrible things, but we had no choice. It was either us or them, and I for one wanted to make sure it was us."

"But there had to be another way!"

"There wasn't!"

"I disagree. But I guess it doesn't matter now. You forgot. You all forgot one thing. One vital thing. The most important thing. The Wraith are half human."

She turns to a small glass incubator where a premature baby is attached to tubes and wires. Monitors are keeping record of every breath, of every heartbeat. It is an ordinary baby in all respects and appearance, except for one thing. One telling difference.

On one of its little hands there is a crude mutation.

There is primitive sucker on one tiny palm.

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The three children sit in their home, staring at the computer screen where two windows are open. Two images are set side by side. Two maps of the United States. One is map before the invasion. The other is a map after the invasion. The children study the differences, making notes lest there be a test later as their teacher drones on and on about the new United States of America.

The nation is now more oval-shaped, having lost miles of coastline and land to the encroaching sea that is still rising, but at a slower rate now. Washington and Oregon are smaller but mostly intact, but California is all but gone, subsumed by violent earthquakes and drowned by tsunamis. Nevada and Arizona will have beachfront property in a few more years.

Between the boundaries of Arizona and Utah is a great depression, a huge void that is known as the Great Crater. It is where half of an enormous Hive ship crashed years ago in the last days of the war. The impact was tremendous, like a small asteroid hitting the Earth and the miles of desert surrounding the zone are still lifeless, sterilized areas where radiation lingers.

As does the remaining doses of the bio-toxin and the enzyme, for the ship was a partially living thing and organic.

The East has suffered more catastrophic losses since the war. The entire Eastern seaboard is gone, obliterated by the Wraith attacks and by the subsequent environmental damage. The subduction zone is shifting to the Atlantic as the continents are violently shoved together by the movement of the tectonic plates. The Earth is listing slightly on its axis and this singular effect has changed everything about the planet.

Earthquakes and tsunamis have destroyed many of the great cities, including the former capital of Washington, D.C. Now the government is safely ensconced in Denver, Colorado, at a higher altitude as the planet evolves. Slowly the Atlantic Ocean eats away at what is left of the Eastern seaboard, which now is comprised of Pennsylvania, Ohio, Kentucky and Georgia.

Johnny Sheppard dutifully writes down the changes in his notebook, tongue sticking out of his mouth as he tries to comprehend what it all means. He knows his mommy can explain it all better than the teacher can, so he will wait until he can ask her. He carefully writes the word _Pangaea_ on the next page although the teacher has not said it. But he knows the word is what the world's one landmass will go by when it forms in his lifetime.

Seamus Sheppard scribbles, not really taking notes. He likes the colors on the maps and wonders about the lost states and their names. He wants to ask his daddy about them and if he ever had flown over them in the past before the war. He starts to draw a plane, a fighter jet like his daddy flies and he adds his favorite number 4 to the plane's decoration.

Emily Sheppard is too young to understand and she sits with her brothers, happily coloring outside the lines of her coloring book. She likes the green crayon the best.

Despite the evolution of the planet school days still go on.


	7. Chapter 7

Vegas: Resistance7

"_Stiffen the sinews, summon up the blood,"_

The ground was shaking. Moira grabbed her son and huddled over him, sheltered in the doorway to their rooms in the facility. She held the boy close but the child wasn't frightened. He was used to earthquakes by now. He smiled, looking round and watching the dirt shower from the ceiling again. Moira stared up as well. She realized this wasn't a normal earthquake.

"Mommy, mommy, look!" Johnny pointed to the hallway where a bright light flashes then is gone. "What that?"

"I don't know." Moira moved cautiously to her feet as the shaking abruptly stopped. "Let's find out, darling. Here." She took his hand and led him carefully down the hallway.

"Moira! Are you all right?" Katie Brown hastened to her side, glancing at the little boy.

"We're fine. What's going on? That was no earthquake."

"I don't know…but we both know who will know."

The two women and the boy quickly climbed the stairs to the control room. It was deserted except for Rodney as he leaned over a comm unit, fingers typing over a keyboard. "Yes, yes, do not intercept. Readings are normal. Stabilization in three, two, one. Colonel, you are clear to land but by all means use the cloaking device."

"Acknowledged," came a scratchy voice over the unit, and the women stopped short, surprised. "Authorization code Alpha 7 Tango 3."

"Daddy!" Johnny recognized his father's voice, garbled as it was and he ran to the table.

"Acknowledged." Rodney gently moved the little boy back from the radio. "Hey, kiddo."

"Rodney, what's going on? The earthquake?" Katie asked. "Is there a new offensive?"

"That wasn't an earthquake. What's John doing in the air? He was supposed to be here, seeing to the preparations for the, the mission." Moira spoke past the sudden lump in her throat and touched her abdomen briefly.

Rodney smiled at her. "No. That's not John. I did it."

"Where daddy?" pouted Johnny, trying to grab the radio but Rodney kept the child from it.

"Did what? You…you opened the rift," Moira realized.

"Yes. And don't worry! Nothing bad got through. I got us the help we need! The help we desperately need and now John doesn't have to go!" Rodney's triumph was short-lived as another quake rammed the facility. Moira grabbed her son and huddled down with him as Rodney and Katie joined her in the doorway.

"Rodney! What have you done? Did you open it in here?" Katie asked as dirt showered around them.

"Yes, well, partially, I mean I opened it in space/time in space and then here in a quantum entanglement to open two points of time simultaneously within the magnetic field to—"

"English, Rodney!" Moira ordered. She had to raise her voice over the rumbling as the ground was trembling and almost whirling under their feet.

"Mommy, mommy we go ride!" Johnny shouted, enchanted by the motion but then it all stopped and he pouted. "Mommy, where daddy?"

Carefully the adults rose to their feet. "Damn, Rodney…what's next? Are you trying to tear the world apart?" Katie snapped, brushing dirt off her clothes.

"I am trying to save it. Excuse me. I have to see…trust me."

"Wait, wait, Rodney!" Moira grabbed his arm, halting him. "You mean you are telling me that you have brought over a, a John Sheppard from an alternate reality?" Curiosity and worry combined as she stared at the scientist.

"Yes." With a single word he replied, then freed his arm to quickly ascend the stairs, leaving the two women to stare after him in astounded wonder.

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John stared at his friend, stupefied. He didn't know what to say. He was at a complete loss, but then words filled his mouth as anger filled his mind. "What the fuck have you done, McKay? I've got reports of tremendous seismic activity all over the nation, or what's left of it! I've got astronomers telling our government that there has been some significant event that has shifted the Earth on its axis! It's fucking axis, Rodney! And you tell me you've opened the rift! I swear to God if you let any more Wraith through I will personally send you to them!"

Rodney shrugged. "I expected there might be some, um, residual effects but the—"

"You expected and still did it anyway? I've got an offensive to plan and in exactly three hours I will be engaged with the enemy! If they alter their course because of your goddamm tinkering I will shove your ass straight into a—"

"John! I got us the help we need! I got us ZPMs and Drones! I got us two Jumpers! They are Ancient ships that can be rendered invisible by a cloaking device and can deliver the payload successfully, plus they pack more firepower than our nukes on their own!"

"And who is going to fly these…what did you call them? Jumpers? What kind of name is that for a ship anyway? I told you, Rodney, I am the only one qualified and skilled enough to fly this mission, goddammit!"

"Yes, you told me, and you will fly it. Or rather your other self will."

John stared at him as if the man had lost his mind.

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"Daddy, daddy, daddy!" Johnny ran awkwardly towards the dark-haired man who towered above him. He was dressed differently, in a curious outfit of black and blue and has a sidearm strapped to one thigh but none of that matters. All that matters is that daddy was home. "Daddy!" Johnny abruptly stopped short, falling onto his rear as the man turned to him.

The man looked exactly like daddy, but the expression on his face is one of shock and bafflement. Not recognition and love that his daddy always has. The man's gaze lifted but the surprise remains as he stared at mommy. Mommy has come up behind him and gently helps Johnny to his feet, pulling him to her with concern.

"John…Colonel Sheppard…" Moira said, staring in wonder. The man before her could have been her husband's twin, except for being clean-shaven. The look on his handsome face disturbed her and she drew her son closer to her, keeping hold of the little boy.

Sheppard stared back at her. The shock of being called daddy by a little boy who eerily resembled him was replaced by the shock of seeing a ghost. Of seeing Moira O'Meara alive and well in this reality, and apparently married to his alternate self here. It was so surprising Sheppard was at a loss for words, but he swallowed. "Moira. Hi."

"Mommy, mommy, that not daddy," Johnny warned, staring wide-eyed.

"I know, darling. It's all right." Moira moved the little boy behind her. She took a step closer to Sheppard. She touched his arm, as if having to make certain he was real. "I…um…you…I don't believe it. I mean Rodney always talked about this but now…seeing you…"

"Weird, I know. It will be weirder when I see myself, so to speak." A quick smile. "Moira."

Moira heard the grief in his voice, the current of guilt. "I take it I'm not in your, um, reality, then?"

"No. I mean you were but I…I lost you." Sheppard couldn't look away from her as her brown eyes filled with sympathy. "Moira…you…him…I mean…a son? Wow. I mean…wow."

Moira smiled gently. "Yeah, you could say that. You are from the Pegasus Galaxy, right? A city called Atlantis?"

"Yeah. We're based out there…I guess you guys haven't gone there yet. There's a planet there we call Pleistocene Park. It's full of living, breathing megafauna. Prehistoric animals that you have only seen as fossils." He touched her arm, seeing her disbelief. "It's true, Moira, I swear! I should have brought some footage of it for you. I didn't even think that you'd be here…I guess I just thought that…" He looked at the little boy peering round his mother. He looked back at Moira who was watching him. "Um…I…look, I just…you…me…I mean we were just…we just met but I feel like I know you…knew her, I guess, I…look, Moira, you…"

"Oh no!" Rodney rushed to Sheppard. "No, no, no, no, no! This can't be good! Let's go, Colonel. We need to plan the offensive, and you'll want to give John a crash course in Jumper 101 because knowing John he will still insist upon going but he'll be a hell of a lot safer! Let's go. Sorry, Moira, I didn't mean for you to meet him, I mean for him to meet you, I mean, oh crap let's just go, shall we?" Rodney pulled Sheppard down the hallway.

Sheppard followed, glancing back at Moira and the little boy. He was completely rattled by seeing her, by seeing a son that by all rights should be his, and would have been his if he hadn't had lost his Moira on that planet. Forcing his emotions aside he turned and followed Rodney.

Moira stared after him. If she hadn't had seen this other John Sheppard with her own eyes she never would have believed it. She wondered at the fate of her other self. She glanced down at her son who was staring as well. "Let's go, darling. We will see daddy soon. We will see your daddy soon, okay? It's all right. That man is going to help your daddy save the planet."

Moira only hoped that this other Sheppard can keep John safe as well.


	8. Chapter 8

Vegas: Resistance8

"_Disguise fair nature with hard-favored rage;"_

John downs another shot of whiskey. The fiery liquid burns down his throat to his stomach. He licks his lips, makes a satisfied sound and gestures for the glass to be re-filled. The pretty blonde barmaid does just that, smiling and letting her gaze rove all over him. John ignores the invitation, preferring instead to down more alcohol with quick swallows. He wipes his mouth with the back of his hand as he stares at the liquid in the glass.

"That bad?"

John looks over to see Rodney sitting next to him. He has his own glass of whiskey and downs it. He coughs, sighs, and shrugs seeing the glimmer of amusement in his friend's gaze. "Yeah."

"I heard about the capture. The flak over killing one of 'em. Stupid."

"Yeah."

The two men fall silent, drinking, musing. Beckett's is a quiet, dark bar, with quiet music in the background and small conversations pepper the air. Although Carson no longer runs the place his name is still above the door and always will be. He has moved on to better things, just as the rest of the team have. Or so they have all believed. John is not so sure.

"You taking the job?"

John glances at Rodney again. Shrugs. "Don't know." He downs the whiskey, gestures for another with an impatient motion of his long fingers. "I haven't discussed it with Moira yet." He considers, bracing himself for the inevitable argument with her. He always gets off arguing with her and shifts on the stool in sensual anticipation. "But yeah, I think we should go. You?"

"Yes. That is, if I can convince Katie, and preferably after she has the baby." Rodney smiles. Grabs a bowl of pretzels and positions it between the two men. He munches on a handful, resumes talking. "It's an unprecedented opportunity, John! And with the knowledge we have now, along with the additional ZPMs we can power the 'Gate to take us to Atlantis at last! Although it could be a one-way trip. There is a very real possibility that it could be, even with the added mojo of your kids. We may not be able to get back here."

"I know."

Rodney snorts. "Sounds like a tv show, doesn't it? An intrepid group of explorers go through the Stargate to the Pegasus Galaxy to find the lost city of Atlantis. It would make a hell of a tv show, wouldn't it?"

"Yeah, it would. Until the guys in charge fucked it up somehow like they always do."

"Yeah." Rodney downs his whiskey. "You think you can convince Moira to go?"

John grabs a handful of pretzels, munches on them. "Yes. Despite everything I think we should go. For the children. My sons…both of them have the double, you know, and they can only reach their full potential out there, I believe, with that Ancient tech. And Moira will want to go. Ever since she heard about that planet full of living prehistoric animals she's been dreaming of it, I know. Even after all these years." He smiles fondly. "I'm surprised she hasn't pushed us through the 'Gate by now." The men chuckle.

"It will be a big change for all of us. Despite everything we know from your, um, alternate self. We've practically got a blueprint as to how to proceed and what not to do. It's almost like this was scripted out for us, you know?"

"Yeah, like a tv show, got it. I wouldn't even consider it if I didn't think it was safe enough for my kids, or my wife, you know. If I didn't think the rewards outweigh the risk."

"Yes. Same here. We have to go, John!" Rodney enthuses, excited despite his worry. "It will be a fantastic advance for all of us, and what we learn there we can apply here to save our own planet! The Ancients must have databases full of knowledge that could be beneficial to the survival of our planet! The science alone is worth the—"

"Okay, got it, Rodney, I'm sold." John shakes his head. "I'll just have to sweet talk Moira."

"You will. I have no doubt, and she will see the scientific importance if nothing else! And we won't be going alone! I think that Carson will go with us. And Evan. And Elizabeth is doing everything she can to be included as a proviso leader. I think she would excel at any diplomatic relations with the other humans there."

"Weir and her big gun," John agrees.

"Yes." Rodney raises his glass. "Let's have a toast to that. No, let's have a toast to exploring the universe and saving the planet and staking our own claim in a new city."

John raises his glass. "Let's toast to the claiming of Atlantis. Our city."

The glasses clink together.

"Besides," John adds wryly, "we'll always have Vegas."

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Moira stands on the porch out back, staring up at the night sky. The stars are brilliant points of light, familiar and comforting in the darkness. They are brighter now since the lights of the city are dimmed. There are not as many people so there are not as many lights as there once were.

It is a quiet night. A soft breeze blows but soon the temperatures will dip dramatically. There is a hint of rain on the air. It can be tasted, it can be felt but more than likely the moisture will dissipate before it reaches the parched ground. Bugs buzz and chirp in the bushes. The days are shorter now, the nights longer, and will become even longer as autumn approaches.

Moira hugs herself, smiles. She can hear the excited voices of her sons and daughter in their room, as John gets them ready for bed and tells one last story before he insists that they go to sleep. It is their nightly ritual, a time for John and the children to be together and to form insoluble bonds while they can, while he is here and not gone on some dangerous mission or trapped in the mire of politics in the new government.

She quietly leaves them to their time, cherishing their joy, their love, and enjoying the brief respite of solitude at last. Although she anticipates the time she will spend later alone with her husband. Even after all these years she still finds herself amazed that this impossibly gorgeous and aggravating man loves her and wants her and has built a life with her. Sometimes it feels like a dream, or a story in some book.

Already she is forming arguments against his abrupt decision to leave not only the city and the planet but the galaxy. To start a new life and a new journey so far away that they may never get back to Earth at all. It will be a life full of challenges and dangers and excitement.

He has decided the whole family is moving to Atlantis and that is that.

Moira smiles, recalling his terse statement, the challenge in his green eyes as he informed her. She knows he is looking forward to any and all arguments with her. She knows he is practically salivating over the hot, hot sex that will follow their voracious and impassioned arguing. She will give him plenty of reasons not to go, but she knows in the end she will acquiesce because she agrees with him.

He doesn't have to know that just yet.

It is a big change. A bold adventure, scary and curious and daunting since they will be taking three little children with them, but it feels like the right decision for all of them. She doesn't know why, only that it is the right decision. As if now that the planet is saved there is really nothing more for them to do here. And as long as the whole team is going along with their own families it seems inevitable, this push towards a new beginning, a new world, a new city.

Atlantis.

Moira stares at the stars and her mind wanders to that other John Sheppard she had briefly met years ago. Another John Sheppard from another reality. She wonders about his life in his Atlantis. What he does, how he feels. She wonders about the fate of her alternate self. She wonders about the Wraith there, and the city, and what challenges that reality faces compared to what her own reality will face when they reach their Atlantis.

Most of all she wonders about that other John Sheppard.

She tries to imagine what his life is like, compared to her John Sheppard's. She recalls his guilt, his sorrow and feels bad for him. She can't help but feel for the man who is so like her husband, yet isn't. She hopes he has found someone, or at least has made peace with himself. His pain still haunts her, at times, that last look before John ushered her away from his alternate self. Even after all of this time she wishes she could have found way to help him.

"Moy? Moy! Get that pert little ass in here now, baby! I've got a warrant I am itching to serve. Repeatedly. Moira!"

Moira smiles at her husband's irate, teasing tone. She turns to enter the house. Turns back to eye the stars once more. Thousands of points of light in the dark, dark sky.

She tries to imagine that other John Sheppard.

In Atlantis.

Alone.


	9. Chapter 9

Vegas: Resistance9

"_Then lend the eye a terrible aspect."_

John couldn't stop grinning. Despite the severity of the situation, despite the fact that he might not even survive this mission and could very well leave his wife and child bereft he couldn't stop grinning. He grabbed the controls of the Jumper and felt the smoothness of its flight in the air. The machine was a remarkable piece of engineering, responding like magic to his every thought. The ATA gene enabled him to access any system just by thinking about it. He marveled over the dexterity of the machine as it swerved and swooped in the air, cloaked and invisible to the looming Hive ship above him.

"Red Leader, this is Green Leader. Stop acting like a kid in a candy store and fly a straight line."

John scowled, finding it odd to be scolded in his own voice by his alternate self. "Acknowledged, Green Leader. Lighten up, would ya?"

Sheppard chuckled over the comm unit, knowing all too well how his other self was feeling. "Acknowledged, Red Leader. Let's go. Just follow my lead. We go down the belly of the beast, drop our payloads, blow it to hell and get back in time for dinner."

"Yeah, got that. Just like Beggar's Canyon and back home," he quoted a line from Star Wars. "First one Hive, then the other one, right? McKay, position?"

Rodney was hunched over the comm unit in the control room, eyes on the board where he was tracking the two Jumpers. They were two red blips on the screen, slowly advancing towards a much larger blip in blue. "Hive one is right where we thought it would be, John. Just over the Arizona/Utah border area. Hive two is still out over the Pacific."

"Acknowledged, McKay. We'll go in low and fast."

"Acknowledged, John, er Sheppard, er…okay." Rodney shook his head, not certain which John was talking to him. He glanced over at Moira who was watching.

"We'll be back for lunch, Moy. Have a turkey sandwich waiting for me, okay?"

"And a beer. No, make it two."

"Yeah, two beers each. And baby, no twin fantasies, if you know what I'm saying."

Moira smiled and stepped to the comm. "Just get those fine, fine asses back home, Johns."

"Acknowledged," they said at the same time, and Moira met Rodney's gaze with a shake of her head.

The Jumpers flew in tandem, then Sheppard flew in front of John and they made a beeline for the Hive ship. Wraith Darts were zipping around the enormous vessel, but they couldn't see either ship as they infiltrated through the hanger bay. John knew that once they used their weapons and raised their shields they would be visible. He knew they would be lucky to make it out alive of one Hive, not to mention two. But he concentrated on the task at hand.

Sheppard kept on course, made sure his alternate did the same. Despite the novelty he knew his alternate self would buckle down and complete the mission. He still found it odd to see a version of himself who was a detective in Las Vegas, of all things, of all places. At least before the Wraith had invaded. And this version of himself had Moira and a child by her.

Abruptly the shields dropped. The bio-toxin was distributed. Long aerosol cans were ejected and broke upon impact, filling the Hive with a yellow gas that thickened the air. Already Darts were scrambling to intercept as the two Jumpers dove deeper, towards the heart of the Hive.

The hyper drives of the ship and its complex engineering were the primary targets.

John fought to control his Jumper, juking and diving as his shield took the hits of the Darts and from the Wraith firing weapons at them from the decks below. His grip tightened on the controls as he flew after Sheppard, readying for the deployment of the naquadah-enhanced nukes that would blow the Hive to kingdom come, or so he hoped.

"Deploy on my mark. Mark!"

The bombs fell silently, but John was too busy avoiding a collision with a Dart to notice. He swerved and fired his own missiles when a colossal rumbling made the Jumper shake. Systems went offline. "Shit! Time to go!" he shouted, but Sheppard was already zooming up, up, through a vent in the Hive as a terrific explosion was ripping the vessel in half.

Rodney swore. "They did it! Give me a live visual feed now!"

Moira gasped as the two blips on the screen dissolved into a horrific mass of energy as the larger blue blip erupted. Then the screen went blank and was replaced by a giant sun in the sky. Except it wasn't a sun but the Hive exploding. A massive half of it was whirling and then pointing downwards like a knife. It was falling straight towards the Earth, still intact.

"No, no, no! Break that thing up! All flights engage and break it up!" Rodney shouted, glancing at Moira who was transfixed by the sight of the giant ship careening towards Earth.

"John, do you read? Sheppard, copy? Do you read? Hive two is on the move so you better haul ass if you can? John? Sheppard? Anyone?"

"Rodney, look!" Moira pointed at the screen. The Hive was filling the view and hurtling inexorably towards the empty desert. "It's going to hit! Oh my God, it will have the impact of a small asteroid!"

"Yes, or worse. All flights leave off and head for Hive two. John, do you read? Sheppard, copy? Give me a visual of the sky now! Screen three!"

The next screen revealed the other half of the ship breaking apart safely, exploding in mid-air. The ground shook violently as the impact erupted. The Hive impaled itself into the desert, forming a huge crater. Dirt plumed all around and the whole earth shook in its wake.

"McKay…Hive two…on it…acknowledged," came a voice, but whether it was John or Sheppard neither Rodney nor Moira knew. They eyed each other in dread, waiting for the outcome.

xXx xXx xXx xXx xXx xXx xXx xXx xXx xXx xXx xXx xXx xXx xXx xXx xXx xXx xXx

Moira ran to the hanger bay, stopped abruptly. She didn't care that the mission has been a success. She didn't care that both Hive ships have been destroyed. She won't join the others in celebration, or the scientists in dreadful calculations of the environmental consequences. She only cares about John. There has been no word from either John Sheppard and Moira feared the worst, the very worst. She watched as a man emerged from a battered Jumper.

He limped slightly and had a gash on his forehead. Blood trickled down the side of his face. He was wearing the combat gear that both Johns had been wearing. But Moira knew. She knew and ran to the man without any hesitation.

"John! John, John, John!"

John caught her in an embrace and held on tightly, relieved to be alive, to be back on the ground. Most of all to be back with his Moira. "Moy…I…hey!" He drew back a little to see her face. To see her love and relief and concern. "How do you know it's me and not him?"

Moira smiled and kissed him. "Only you would look pissed when we won, sweetie. Oh John!"

John smiled and hugged her again.

Moira turned in his arms to see Sheppard emerging from the Jumper, looking as battered and bruised as her husband. She gently freed herself and moved to him. She stepped close, gaze assessing. She kissed his cheek. "Thank you," she said softly, knowing that without his aid the mission could have ended very, very badly.

Sheppard smiled at her, but there was a sadness in his eyes that captured her. "I couldn't let him get all of the reward," he joked.

She touched his arm. "John…you…you'll be going back now, to your Atlantis?"

"Yeah. You can't have an Atlantis without a Sheppard," he said. But his gaze lingered on her and he touched her cheek. He drew his hand away from her face as emotion surfaced briefly. A guilt and a grief that she could sympathize with all too well.

"John…it wasn't your fault. Whatever happened, it wasn't your fault."

"It was. I…I let go…I…" He faltered, sighed. Locked down on his emotions. "Take care, Moira. I only hope he realizes how damn lucky he is."

"Don't give up, John. Don't." She kissed his cheek again and moved back to her husband.

John slid his arm around her, gaze glowering at the other man. Another version of himself that he knew Moira couldn't help but want to comfort. Nevertheless he felt a pang of jealousy. "Let's go, Moy. I really do need that beer, and I wasn't kidding about that sandwich. Where's junior?"

"With his Aunt Katie but he should be—"

"Daddy! Daddy, daddy, daddy!" The little boy raced to his father and shrieked in delight as John caught him and swung him high into the air.

"Hey, buddy!" He kissed the child and held him. He looked over at Sheppard who was watching. A look passed between the two men. Before Moira could ask John was guiding her out of the hanger bay. "Guess what, Johnny?"

"What, daddy?"

"I saved the planet."

"Again, daddy?"

John laughed. "Yeah, again."

"Okay. Can I have some ice seem?"

"Yes, we'll all have some ice seem. Moira?"

Moira looked back but Sheppard was gone. She frowned, a host of questions and concerns invading her mind, but she eyed her husband and her son. Deciding. "Yes, let's get some ice seem, gentlemen. Then daddy can tell us about how he saved the world. Again."

THE END


End file.
